Mary Queen of Scots beheaded - Feb 08, 1587 - HISTORY.com Mary Queen of Scots beheaded Share this: Mary Queen of Scots beheaded Author Mary Queen of Scots beheaded URL Publisher A+E Networks After 19 years of imprisonment, Mary Queen of Scots is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England for her complicity in a plot to murder Queen Elizabeth I. In 1542, while just six days old, Mary ascended to the Scottish throne upon the death of her father, King James V. Her mother sent her to be raised in the French court, and in 1558 she married the French dauphin, who became King Francis II of France in 1559 but died the following year. After Francis’ death, Mary returned to Scotland to assume her designated role as the country’s monarch. In 1565, she married her English cousin Lord Darnley in order to reinforce her claim of succession to the English throne after Elizabeth’s death. In 1567, Darnley was mysteriously killed in an explosion at Kirk o’ Field, and Mary’s lover, the Earl of Bothwell, was the key suspect.

Although Bothwell was acquitted of the charge, his marriage to Mary in the same year enraged the nobility. Mary brought an army against the nobles, but was defeated and imprisoned at Lochleven, Scotland, and forced to abdicate in favor of her son by Darnley, James. In 1568, Mary escaped from captivity and raised a substantial army but was defeated and fled to England. Queen Elizabeth initially welcomed Mary but was soon forced to put her friend under house arrest after Mary became the focus of various English Catholic and Spanish plots to overthrow Elizabeth. Nineteen years later, in 1586, a major plot to murder Elizabeth was reported, and Mary was brought to trial. She was convicted for complicity and sentenced to death. On February 8, 1587, Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded for treason. Her son, King James VI of Scotland, calmly accepted his mother’s execution, and upon Queen Elizabeth’s death in 1603 he became king of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Related Videos On this day 1587: Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded - The Scotsman On this day 1587: Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded The death mask of Mary Queen of Scots. 'Picture: Jane Barlow 13:11 Have your say ON this day in 1587 Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringay Castle. Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland was most commonly known by the title Mary Queen of Scots, the only surviving child of James V, she acceded the throne when she was just six-years-old. Briefly Queen consort of France after she married the Dauphin, Francis. Mary longed to return to her homeland and finally arrived at Leith in 1561 following the death of her husband. It was not long before the politics of her homeland found her imprisoned and forced to abdicate by a plot to see her removed from the throne. She fled south to seek refuge in the home of her cousin Queen Elizabeth I. Mary had previously claimed Elizabeth’s throne as her own and was considered the legitimate sovereign of England by many English Catholics. This led to her being imprisoned in England for the best part of twenty years.

A plot was discovered in 1586 which would involve a Catholic revolt and the assassination of Elizabeth. This sealed Mary’s fate. Mary was 44 at the time of her death. SEE ALSO: 1587 - Mary Queen of Scots beheaded 1587 - Mary Queen of Scots beheaded Mary's Execution Despite the attempts of her supporters to seize power in Scotland and to help her, Mary remained a prisoner in England and a focus for Catholic plots against Elizabeth. The last straw came in 1586, when she was found to have given her consent to the Babington Plot - a plot to assassinate Elizabeth and to rescue Mary and place her on the English throne. Elizabeth's spy-master Walsingham had set up everything so that Mary in effect signed her own death warrant when she replied to the plotters, approving of their scheme. She was tried and executed at Fotheringay castle on the morning of 8 February 1587. Here is a contemporary English account of her death.

A report of the manner of execution of the Scottish Queen performed the eighth day of February anno 1586 [1587 by modern dating] in the great hall within the castle of Fotheringham with relation of speeches uttered and actions happening in the said execution from the delivery of the said Scottish Queen unto Mr Thomas Andrewes, Esq., Sheriff of the country of Northampton unto the end of the same execution.

First, the said Scottish Queen, being carried by two of Sir Amias Pawlett's gentlemen and the Sheriff going before her, came most willingly out of her chamber into an entry next the hall; at which place the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Earl of Kent, commissioners for the execution, with the two governors of her person and divers knights and gentlemen, did meet her; where they found one of the Scottish Queen's servants, named Melvin, kneeling on his knees; who uttered these words with tears to the Queen of Scots, his mistress, 'Madam, it will be the sorrowfullest message that ever I carried when I shall report that my Queen and dear mistress is dead.' Then the Queen of Scots shedding tears, answered him, 'You ought to rejoice and not to weep for that the end of Mary Stuart's troubles is now done. Thou knowest, Melvin, that all this world is but vanity and full of troubles and sorrows. Carry this message from me and tell my friends that I died a true woman to my religion, and like a true Scottish woman and a true French woman; but God forgive them that have long desired my end.

And He that is the true Judge of all secret thoughts knoweth my mind, how it hath ever been my desire to have Scotland and England united together. And commend me to my son, and tell him that I have not done any thing that may prejudice his kingdom of Scotland. And so, good Melvin, farewell.' And kissing him she bade him pray for her. Then she turned her unto the Lords and told them that she had certain requests to make unto them. One was for a sum of money (which she said Sir Amias Pawlett knew of) to be paid to one Curle, her servant. Next, that all her poor servants might enjoy that quietly which by her will and testament she had given unto them. And lastly, that they might be all well entreated and sent home safely and honestly into their own country. 'And this I do conjure you, my Lords, to do.' Answer was made by Sir Amias Pawlett.

'I do well remember the money your grace speaketh of, and your grace needeth not to make any doubt of the not performance of your request, for I do surely think they shall be granted.' 'I have (said she) one other request to make unto you, my Lords, that you will suffer my poor servants to be present about me at my death, that they may report when they come into their countries how I died a true woman unto my religion.' Then the Earl of Kent, one of the commissioners, answered, 'Madam, that cannot well be granted, for that it is feared lest some of them would with speeches both trouble and grieve your grace and disquiet the company; of which already we have had some experience, or seek to wipe their napkins in some of your blood, which were not convenient.' 'My Lord (said the Queens of Scots), I will give my word and promise for them that they shall not do any such thing as your Lordship hath named.

Alas, poor souls, it would do them good to bid me farewell, and I hope your mistress, being a maiden Queen, in regard of womanhood will suffer me to have some of my own people about me at my death; and I know she hath not given you so straight a commission but that you may grant me more than this if I were a far meaner woman than I am.' And then feigning to be grieved, with some tears uttered these words: 'You know that I am cousin to your Queen and descended from the blood of Henry the viith., a married Queen of France and the anointed Queen of Scotland.' Whereupon after some consultation they granted that she might have some of her servants according to her grace's request, and therefore desired her to make choice of half a dozen of her men and women. Who presently said that of her men she would have Melvin, her apothecary, her surgeon, and one other old man besides; and of her women those two that did use to lie in her chamber.

After this she, being supported by Sir Amias's two gentlemen aforesaid and Melvin, carrying her train, and also accompanied with Lords, knights, and gentlemen aforenamed, the Sheriff going before her, she passed out of the entry into the hall with her countenance careless, importing therby rather mirth than mournfull chere, and so she willingly stepped up to the scaffold which was prepared for her in the hall, being two foot high and twelve foot broad with rails round about, hanged and covered with black, with a low stool, long cushion and block, covered with black also. Then having the stool brought her, she sat down, by her, on her right hand the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Earl of Kent, and on the left hand stood the Sheriff, before her the two executioners; round the rails stood knights, gentlemen, and others.

Then silence being made the Queen's Majestie's commission for the execution of the said Queen of Scots was opened by Mr Beal, clerk of the council, and these words pronounced by the assembly, 'God save the Queen', during the reading of which commission the Queen of Scots was silent, listening unto it with as small regard as if it had not concerned her at all; and with as cheerfull countenance as if it had been a pardon from her majesty for her life; using as much strangeness in word and deed as if she had never known any of the assembly or had been ignorant of the English language.

Then Mr Doctor Fletcher, Dean of Peterborough, standing directly before her without the rails, bending his body with great reverence, began to utter this exhortation following: 'Madam, the Queen's most excellent Majesty', etc; and uttering these words three or four times she told him, 'Mr Dean, I am settled in the ancient Catholic Roman religion, and mind to spend my blood in defence of it.' Then Mr Dean sayd, 'Madam, change your opinion and repent you of your former wickedness, and set your faith only in Jesus Christ, by Him to be saved.' The she answered again, 'Mr Dean, trouble not yourself any more, for I am settled and resolved in this my religion, and am purposed herein to die.' Then the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Earl of Kent, perceiving her so obstinate, told her that since she would not hear the exhortation begun by Mr Dean, 'We will pray for your grace that if it standeth with God's will you may have your heart lightened even at the last hour with the true knowledge of God, and so die therein.' Then she answered, 'If ye will pray for me, my Lords, I will thank you, but to

 join in prayer with you I will not, for that you and I are not of one religion'.

Then the Lords called for Mr Dean, who kneeling on the scaffold stairs began his prayer, 'O most gracious God and merciful Father', etc., all the assembly, saving the Queen of Scots and her servants, saying after him: during the saying of which prayer the Queen of Scots, sitting upon a stool, having about her neck an Agnus Dei, in her hand a crucifix, at her girdle a pair of Beads with a golden Cross at the end of them, a Latin book in her hand, began with tears and loud voice to pray in Latin, and in the midst of her prayers she slided off from the stool and kneeling said divers Latin prayers. And after the end of Mr Dean's prayer she kneeling prayed to this effect in English; for Christ, His afflicted Church, and for an end of their troubles, for her son and for the Queen's Majesty, that she might prosper and serve God aright. She confessed that she hoped to be saved by and in the blood of Christ, at the foot of whose crucifix she would shed her blood.

Then said the Earl of Kent, 'Madam settle Christ Jesus in your heart and leave those trumperies.' Then she, little regarding or nothing at all his honor's good counsel, went forward with her prayers; desiring that God would avert His wrath from this Island, and that He would give her grace and forgiveness of her sins. These with other prayers she made in English, saying she forgave her enemies with all her heart that had long sought her blood, and desired God to convert them to the truth; and in the end of prayer she desired all Saints to make intercession for her to Jesus Christ, and so kissed the crucifix, and crossing of herself, said these words, 'Even as Thy arms, O Jesus, were spread here upon the cross, so receive me into Thy arms of mercy and forgive me all my sins.' Her prayer ended, the executioners kneeling desired her grace to forgive them her death. Who answered, 'I forgive you with all my heart, for now I hope you shall make an end of all my troubles.' Then they with her two women helping of her up, began to disrobe her of her apparell.

Then she laying her Crucifix upon the stool, one of the executioners took from her neck the Agnus Dei, which she laying hands of it gave it to one of her women and told the executioner that they should be answered in money for it. Then she suffered them with her two women to disrobe her of her apparell, of her chain, of her pomander beads, and all other her apparell most willingly; and with joy rather than with sorrow helped to make unready herself, putting on a pair of sleeves with her own hands which they had pulled off, and that with some haste, as if she had longed to be gone. All this while they were pulling off her apparell she never changed her countenance, but with smiling chere she uttered these words that she had never such grooms to make her unready, and she never put off her clothes before such a company. Then she being stripped of all her apparell saving her petticoat and kertell her two women beholding her made great lamentation and crying and crossed themselves prayed in Latin.

Then she turning herself to them embracing them, said these words in French, 'Ne criez vous, j'ay promis pour vous'; and so crossing and kissing them, bade them pray for her, and rejoice and not mourn, for that now they should see an end of all their mistress's troubles. Then she with a smiling countenance, turning to her men-servants, as Melvin and the rest standing upon a bench nigh the scaffold, who sometimes weeping, sometimes crying out, and loudly and continually crossing themselves, prayed in Latin, crossing them with her hand, bade them farewell, and wishing them to pray for her even until the last hour. This done one of her women, having a Corpus Christi cloth lapt up the corner ways, kissing it, put it over the Queen of Scot's face and pinned it fast to the caul of her head.

Then the two women departed from her, and she kneeling down upon a cushion most resolutely and without any token or fear of death, she spake aloud this Psalm in Latin, 'In te Domine confido, non confundat in eternum' [the ending of the Te Deum, 'I trust in thee Lord, I shall never be counfounded'], etc. Then groping for the block she laid down her head, putting her chin on the block with both her hands, which holding there still had been cut off had they been not espied. Then lying upon the block most quietly, and stretched out her arms and legs, cryed, 'In manus tuas, Domine', etc., three or four times. Then she lying very still on the block, one of the executioners holding of her slightly with one of his hands, she endured two strokes of the other executioner with an axe, she making very small noise or none at all, and not stirring any part of her from the place where she lay; and so the executioners cut off her head saving one little gristle, which being cut asunder he lifted up her head to the view of all the assembly and bade God save the Queen.

Then her dressing of lawn falling off from her head it appeared as grey as one of threescore and ten years old, and polled very short, her face in a moment being so much altered from the form she had when she was alive as few could remember her by her dead face. Her lips stirred up and down almost a quarter of an hour after her head was cutt off. Then Mr Dean said with a loud voice, 'So perish all the Queen's enemies', and afterwards the Earl of Kent came to the dead body, and standing over it with a loud voice said, 'Such be the end of all the Queen's and the Gospel's enemies.' Then one of the executioners pulling off her garters espied her little dog, which was crept under her clothes, which could not be gotten forth but by force. It afterwards would not depart from the dead corpse, but came and laid between her head and her shoulders, which being imbrued with her blood was carried away and washed, as all things else were, that had any blood, was either burned or clean washed, and the executioners sent away with money for their fees; not having any one thing that belonged unto her.

And so every man being commanded out of the hall except the Sheriff and his men she was carried by them up into a great chamber lying ready for the surgeons to embalm her. Hon. Mrs Maxwell Scott, The Tragedy of Fotheringay, Edinburgh, 1905. February 08, 1587 : Mary Queen of Scots beheaded Introduction After 19 years of imprisonment, Mary Queen of Scots is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England for her complicity in a plot to murder Queen Elizabeth I. In 1542, while just six days old, Mary ascended to the Scottish throne upon the death of her father, King James V. Her mother sent her to be raised in the French court, and in 1558 she married the French dauphin, who became King Francis II of France in 1559 but died the following year. After Francis’ death, Mary returned to Scotland to assume her designated role as the country’s monarch. In 1565, she married her English cousin Lord Darnley in order to reinforce her claim of succession to the English throne after Elizabeth’s death.

In 1567, Darnley was mysteriously killed in an explosion at Kirk o’ Field, and Mary’s lover, the Earl of Bothwell, was the key suspect. Although Bothwell was acquitted of the charge, his marriage to Mary in the same year enraged the nobility. Mary brought an army against the nobles, but was defeated and imprisoned at Lochleven, Scotland, and forced to abdicate in favor of her son by Darnley, James. In 1568, Mary escaped from captivity and raised a substantial army but was defeated and fled to England. Queen Elizabeth initially welcomed Mary but was soon forced to put her friend under house arrest after Mary became the focus of various English Catholic and Spanish plots to overthrow Elizabeth. Nineteen years later, in 1586, a major plot to murder Elizabeth was reported, and Mary was brought to trial. She was convicted for complicity and sentenced to death. On February 8, 1587, Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded for treason.

Her son, King James VI of Scotland, calmly accepted his mother’s execution, and upon Queen Elizabeth’s death in 1603 he became king of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Article Details: February 08, 1587 : Mary Queen of Scots beheaded Author February 08, 1587 : Mary Queen of Scots beheaded URL Mary Queen of Scots | Famous Scots | VisitScotland Mary Queen of Scots About Add to basket Remove from basket Plus Minus Add to trip planner Remove from trip planner Mary Queen of Scots Mary Queen of Scots is one of history's true enigmas. Historians know plenty about what she did and where she went during her short life, but the debate still rages on who she was; a selfless martyr, spurred on by passion for her country and devotion to God, or an icy and manipulative adulteress, capable of murder to achieve her political ambitions? It's time to decide for yourself - explore the life and times of Mary Queen of Scots and learn about the events surrounding her life and reign in the fantastic guide, Discover Something About Mary Queen of Scots . Bring her story to life and visit the places where some of the most dramatic events took place.

In museums, exhibits and collections, feast your eyes on some fascinating objects associated with her, including jewellery, documents, instruments, textiles and more, and see her immortalised in works of art. 9 key facts Born 8 December 1542 in Linlithgow Palace. Crowned Queen of Scots in the Chapel Royal, Stirling Castle, aged just nine months. Smuggled to France aged five, where she lived until she was 18. Gave birth to her only child in Edinburgh Castle. He would rise to become James VI of Scotland and I of England. Some believe she arranged to have her first husband, Lord Darnley, assassinated. Married for a second time to Lord Bothwell - some believe he abducted her against her will. Imprisoned for almost a year in Lochleven Castle in Kinross before managing to escape. Last hours in Scotland were spent in Dundrennan Abbey in Dumfries & Galloway before journeying to England to seek protection from her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. Confined in England for 18 years before Elizabeth sanctioned her death warrant and she was beheaded. She died 8 February 1587 in Fotheringhay Castle.

Find out more Lennoxlove House , near Haddington, East Lothian, where you can see her death mask John Gray Centre , a library, museum and archive, also in Haddington, which displays documents signed and sealed by Mary. Blairs Museum , Aberdeen where a memorial portrait of Mary on the day of her execution is on display Mary Queen of Scots Visitor Centre , Jedburgh, Scottish Borders, for information about her visit to the town in 1566. On Feb. 8, 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded at... - tribunedigital-chicagotribune On Feb. 8, 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded at... February 08, 2005 On Feb. 8, 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England. In 1820 Civil War Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman was born in Lancaster, Ohio. In 1828 author Jules Verne was born in Nantes, France. In 1878 Martin Buber, the German-Jewish religious philosopher, was born in Vienna.

In 1904 the Russo-Japanese War over control of Manchuria and Korea began as Japanese forces attacked Port Arthur. In 1922 President Warren Harding had a radio installed in the White House. In 1924 America's first execution by gas took place, at Nevada State Prison. In 1931 actor James Dean was born in Marion, Ind. In 1974 the three-man crew of Skylab returned to Earth after 84 days in space. In 1980 President Jimmy Carter unveiled a plan to re-introduce draft registration. In 1993 General Motors sued NBC, alleging that "Dateline NBC" had rigged two crashes to show that GM pickups were prone to fires. NBC settled the lawsuit the following day. In 1995 the UN Security Council approved sending 7,000 peacekeepers to Angola to cement an accord ending 19 years of civil war. In 2004 President Bush denied marching America into war under false pretenses and said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the U.S.-led invasion was necessary because Saddam Hussein could have developed a nuclear weapon.

MORE: Mary | queen of Scotland | Britannica.com queen of Scotland Alternative Titles: Mary, Queen of Scots, Mary Stuart Mary Thomas Randolph, 1st earl of Moray Mary, byname Mary, Queen of Scots, original name Mary Stuart or Mary Stewart (born December 8, 1542, Linlithgow Palace, West Lothian , Scotland —died February 8, 1587, Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire , England ), queen of Scotland (1542–67) and queen consort of France (1559–60). Her unwise marital and political actions provoked rebellion among the Scottish nobles, forcing her to flee to England, where she was eventually beheaded as a Roman Catholic threat to the English throne. Explore, through the portrayal of two actresses, one of the most-storied rivalries in English … Courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library; CC-BY-SA 4.0 (A Britannica Publishing Partner) Mary, Queen of Scots. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LOT 13407, no.

181) Early life Mary Stuart was the only child of King James V of Scotland and his French wife, Mary of Guise . The death of her father six days after her birth left Mary as queen of Scotland in her own right. Although Mary’s great-uncle King Henry VIII of England made an unsuccessful effort to secure control of her (Mary inherited Tudor blood through her grandmother, a sister of Henry VIII), the regency of the kingdom was settled in favour of her mother. Her mother saw to it that Mary was sent to France at age five. There she was brought up at the court of King Henry II and his queen Catherine de Médicis with their own large family, assisted by relations on her mother’s side, the powerful Guises. Despite a charmed childhood of much luxury, including frequent hunting and dancing (at both of which she excelled), Mary’s education was not neglected, and she was taught Latin, Italian, Spanish, and some Greek. French now became her first language, and indeed in every other way Mary grew into a Frenchwoman rather than a Scot.

By her remarkable beauty, with her tall, slender figure (she was about 5 feet 11 inches), her red-gold hair and amber-coloured eyes, and her taste for music and poetry, Mary summed up the contemporary ideal of the Renaissance princess at the time of her marriage to Francis , eldest son of Henry and Catherine, in April 1558. Although it was a political match aimed at the union of France and Scotland, Mary was sincerely fond of her boy husband, though the marriage was probably never consummated . The accession of Elizabeth Tudor to the throne of England in November 1558 meant that Mary was, by virtue of her Tudor blood, next in line to the English throne. Those Roman Catholics who considered Elizabeth illegitimate because they regarded Henry VIII’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon and his marriage to Anne Boleyn invalid even looked upon Mary as the lawful queen. Mary’s father-in-law, Henry II of France, thus claimed the English throne on her behalf.

The death of Henry in 1559 brought Francis to the French throne and made Mary a glittering queen consort of France, until Francis’s premature death in December 1560 made her a widow at the age of 18. Mary, Queen of Scots, detail of a drawing by François Clouet, 1559; in the … Giraudon/Art Resource, New York Ringling Bros. Folds Its Tent Returning to Scotland in August 1561, Mary discovered that her sheltered French upbringing had made her ill-equipped to cope with the series of problems now facing her. Mary’s former pretensions to the English throne had incurred Elizabeth’s hostility. She refused to acknowledge Mary as her heiress, however much Mary, nothing if not royal by temperament, prized her English rights. While Mary herself was a Roman Catholic, the official religion of Scotland had been reformed to Protestantism in her absence, and she thus represented to many, including the leading Calvinist preacher John Knox , a foreign queen of an alien religion.

Most difficult of all were the Scottish nobles; factious and turbulent after a series of royal minorities, they cared more for private feuds and self-aggrandizement than support of the crown. Nevertheless, for the first years of her rule, Mary managed well, with the aid of her natural half-brother James, earl of Moray , and helped in particular by her policy of religious tolerance. Nor were all the Scots averse to the spectacle of a pretty young queen creating a graceful court life and enjoying her progresses round the country. Mary, Queen of Scots, engraving, 1849. © Photos.com/Thinkstock British Culture and Politics It was Mary’s second marriage in July 1565 to her cousin Henry Stewart (Stuart), earl of Darnley, son of Matthew Stewart, 4th earl of Lennox, that started the fatal train of events culminating in her destruction. Mary married the handsome Darnley recklessly for love.

It was a disastrous choice because by her marriage she antagonized all the elements interested in the power structure of Scotland, including Elizabeth, who disapproved of Mary marrying another Tudor descendant, and her half brother James, who, jealous of the Lennox family’s rise to power, promptly rebelled. Nor did Darnley’s character measure up to the promise of his appearance—he was weak, vicious, and yet ambitious. The callous butchery of her secretary and confidant, David Riccio (Rizzio), in front of her own eyes, in March 1566, by Darnley and a group of nobles, convinced Mary that her husband had aimed at her own life. The birth of their son James in June did nothing to reconcile the couple, and Mary, armed now with the heir she had craved, looked for some means to relieve an intolerable situation. Britannica Lists & Quizzes Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies The next eight months constitute the most tangled and controversial period of Mary’s career.

According to Mary’s detractors, it was during this period that she developed an adulterous liaison with James Hepburn, 4th earl of Bothwell , and planned with him the death of Darnley and their own following marriage. There is, however, no contemporary evidence of this love affair, before Darnley’s death, except the highly dubious so-called Casket Letters , poems and letters supposedly written by Mary to Bothwell but now generally considered to be inadmissible evidence by historians. But Mary did undoubtedly consider the question of a divorce from Darnley, after a serious illness in October 1566, which left her health wrecked and her spirits low. On the night of February 9, 1567, the house at Kirk o’ Field on the outskirts of Edinburgh where Darnley lay recovering from illness was blown up, and Darnley himself was strangled while trying to escape. Many theories have been put forward to explain conflicting accounts of the crime, including the possibility that Darnley, plotting to blow up Mary, was caught in his own trap. Nevertheless, the most obvious explanation—that those responsible were the nobles who hated Darnley—is the most likely one.

Whatever Mary’s foreknowledge of the crime, her conduct thereafter was fatally unwise and showed how much she lacked wise counselors in Scotland. After three months, she allowed herself to be married off to Bothwell, the chief suspect, after he abducted and ravished her. If passion is rejected as the motive, Mary’s behaviour can be ascribed to her increasing despair, exacerbated by ill health, at her inability to manage the affairs of tempestuous Scotland without a strong arm to support her. But in fact Bothwell as a consort proved no more acceptable to the jealous Scottish nobility than Darnley had been. Mary and Bothwell were parted forever at Carberry Hill on June 15, 1567, Bothwell to exile and imprisonment where he died in 1578 and Mary to incarceration on the tiny island of Loch Leven , where she was formally deposed in favour of her one-year-old son James . After a brief fling of liberty the following year, defeat of her supporters at a battle at Langside put her once more to flight. Impulsively, Mary sought refuge in England with her cousin Elizabeth.

But Elizabeth, with all the political cunning Mary lacked, employed a series of excuses connected with the murder of Darnley to hold Mary in English captivity in a series of prisons for the next 18 years of her life. In the meantime, Mary’s brother Moray flourished as regent of Scotland. Mary, Queen of Scots, surrendering on Carberry Hill, June 15, 1567, engraving from a 19th-century … © Photos.com/Thinkstock Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest Mary’s captivity was long and wearisome, only partly allayed by the consolations of religion and, on a more mundane level, her skill at embroidery and her love of such little pets as lap dogs and singing birds. Her health suffered from the lack of physical exercise, her figure thickened, and her beauty diminished, as can be seen in the best-known pictures of her in black velvet and white veil, dating from 1578. Naturally, she concentrated her energies on procuring release from an imprisonment she considered unjustified, at first by pleas and later by conspiracy .

Unfortunately for her survival, Mary as a Catholic was the natural focus for the hopes of those English Catholics who wished to replace the Protestant queen Elizabeth on the throne. It was the discovery in 1586 of a plot to assassinate Elizabeth and bring about a Roman Catholic uprising that convinced Queen Elizabeth that, while she lived, Mary would always constitute too dangerous a threat to her own position. Trending Topics Opium Wars Despite the fact that she was the sovereign queen of another country, Mary was tried by an English court and condemned; her son, James, who had not seen his mother since infancy and now had his sights fixed on succeeding to the English throne, raised no objections. Mary was executed in 1587 in the great hall at Fotheringhay Castle, near Peterborough; she was 44 years old. It was a chilling scene, redeemed by the great personal dignity with which Mary met her fate. Her body ultimately came to rest in Westminster Abbey in a magnificent monument James I raised to his mother after he finally ascended the throne of England.

Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, woodcut from Adam Blackwood’s Martyre de la royne … The Granger Collection, New York A romantic and tragic figure to her supporters, a scheming adulteress if not murderess to her political enemies, Mary aroused furious controversy in her own lifetime, during which her cousin Queen Elizabeth aptly termed her “the daughter of debate.” Her dramatic story has continued to provoke argument among historians ever since, while the public interest in this 16th-century femme fatale remains unabated. Mary Queen of Scots | HistoryOnTheNet Mary Queen of Scots Famous for being Queen of Scotland executed by Elizabeth I Born - 8th December 1542, Linlithgow, Scotland Parents - James V, Mary of Guise Siblings - James, Robert Married - 1. Francis II of France 2. Henry Stuart Lord Darnley 3. James Hepburn Earl of Bothwell Children - Marriage 2 - James (I of England, VI of Scotland) Died - 8th February 1587, beheaded at Fotheringay Castle Mary Queen of Scots was the daughter of James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise.

She became Queen of Scotland when she was six days old after her father died at the Battle of Solway Moss. A marriage was arranged between Mary and Edward, only son of Henry VIII but was broken when the Scots decided they preferred an alliance with France. Mary spent a happy childhood in France and in 1558 married Francis, heir to the French throne. They became king and queen of France in 1559. Sadly, Francis died in 1560 and Mary, not wanting to stay in France, returned to Scotland. During Mary's absence, Scotland had become a Protestant country. The Protestants did not want Mary, a Catholic and their official queen, to have any influence. In 1565 Mary married her cousin and heir to the English throne, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. The marriage was not a happy one. Darnley was jealous of Mary's close friendship with her secretary, David Rizzio and in March 1566 had him murdered in front of Mary who was six months pregnant with the future James I. Darnley made many enemies among the Scottish nobles and in 1567 his house was blown up.

Darnley's body was found inside, he had been strangled. Three months later Mary married the chief suspect, the Earl of Bothwell. The people of Scotland were outraged and turned against her. She was removed from the throne and fled to England. She appealed to Elizabeth for help and support, but Elizabeth, suspicious that she was going to raise Catholic support and take the throne of England, kept Mary a virtual prisoner for the next eighteen years. In 1586 letters sent to Mary by a Catholic called Thomas Babington, were found. The letters revealed a plot to kill Elizabeth and replace her with Mary. Elizabeth had no choice but to sign Mary's death warrant. Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringay Castle on February 8th 1587. Articles 6 Important Islamic Advances in Medieval Medicine While medieval European medicine was still mired in superstitions and the rigid Catholic teachings of the Church, the advent of Islam in the 7th century A.D. gave rise to impressive growth and discoveries in many scientific fields, especially medicine. Islamic scholars and doctors translated medical texts from all over the known world, including the Greeks and Romans, Persians and Indians. They not only gathered...

Read More Theriac: History's Amazing Wonder Drug From the 1st century A.D. to the late 19th century, one medical compound reigned supreme over all other remedies: theriac. First concocted by a Greek king worried about poisons, theriac went from being a general antidote to snake bites to an all around panacea, used to treat everything from asthma to warts, including the Black Plague. Famous doctors throughout this long history experimented with the drug and... Read More Crazy Potions and Nasty Nostrums: Six Bizarre Medieval Medicines If you think, as some do today, that many drugs used as medicines are potentially deadly, consider what people living in medieval times were prescribed as curative agents—from ground up corpses to toxic mercury to crocodile dung. The annals of medieval medical history are full of substances that make us cringe. Yet people believed in these cure-alls and willingly took them when prescribed by a doctor of the...

Read More Engines of Destruction: Roman Advancement of Siege Warfare The Neo-Assyrian Empire used earthen ramps, siege towers and battering rams in sieges; the Greeks and Alexander the Great created destructive new engines known as artillery to further their sieges, and the Romans used every technique to perfection. That is to say, the Romans were not inventors, but they were superb engineers and disciplined, tough soldiers who fought against great odds and won, repeatedly. Engines of Destruction: Helepolis, the Massive Siege Engine that Failed Demetrius I, King of Macedon, invented many siege engines including battering rams and siege towers. For the Siege of Rhodes, he created the Helepolis, the Taker of Cities, a huge armored siege tower containing many heavy catapults. The island city of Rhodes maintained its neutrality among the warring nations of the time, although it remained friendly to Ptolemy I of Egypt, the enemy of Demetrius of... Read More Mary Stewart execution - YouTube Mary Stewart execution Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading...

Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Nov 4, 2010 At age 44, Mary (Stewart), Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 - 8 February 1587) was beheaded on 7 February 1587 in Fotheringhay Castle Category

Question: In which castle was Mary Queen of Scots beheaded in 1587?
Answer: Fotheringay Castle